Honoring the remarkable students of UCLA’s class of 2025

"I love commencements," Chancellor Julio Frenk has said. There's something wonderful, he admits, about seeing students first arrive, full of expectation, and then ultimately reach the milestone of graduation. "It is our absolute sacred duty to make sure that they blossom, that they flourish."

And flourish they have. This commencement season, nearly 15,000 extraordinary Bruins, undergraduates and graduate students, will receive their degrees. These students come from a rich tapestry of backgrounds, cultures, perspectives and disciplines. And each has traveled their own unique journey - they have overcome both personal and collective challenges, impressed with their talents, inspired through their service, and embodied all the remarkable qualities that continue to make UCLA the top-ranked public university in the nation.

As the members of the class of 2025 prepare to launch into the next chapter of their lives, we are pleased to honor them by spotlighting just a few of their stories.

This page will be updated regularly through June 15.

Harvesting a dream at UCLA

Arismel Tena Meza, known to her friends and mentors as Ari, has traveled an extraordinary path to reach this year's UCLA commencement stage, where she celebrates earning her Ph.D. in chemistry.

Her journey began over a thousand miles away in Michoacán, Mexico, in a small rancho surrounded by farmland. At the age of 5, she immigrated to the United States with her mother and five siblings, joining her father, who was working in California's fields through the Bracero program. Soon, the reunited family settled in Salinas, California, a small agricultural town where her parents picked strawberries and raised their family in a modest trailer park.

Growing up in a community of farmworkers was not always easy, but it gave Tena Meza an important perspective. "We didn't have much, but we had what we needed," she said. "My parents worked so hard to give us a better life, and they always reminded us how important education was."

Even as a child, Tena Meza dreamed of improving the conditions of farmworkers like her parents. In high school, she joined her local city council and other government organizations, believing an education in political science was the key to creating change.

Read more about Arismel Tena Meza on UCLA Newsroom.

Duo spotlights the struggles of students who juggle classes and jobs

As a kid growing up in the New Jersey suburbs, Ritika Sarma, who was often described as an argumentative but diplomatic child, never doubted what she wanted to be when she grew up.

"My fourth-grade teacher decided to do a mock trial with our class for a month, and I remember having so much fun. After that, I didn't have a question in my head of what I wanted to be: a lawyer," Sarma said.

Last summer, Sarma, who majored in political science and took on a double minor in labor studies and global studies, enrolled in a research intensive offered through UCLA's labor studies program that investigates the struggles faced by young people who juggle school and work across Los Angeles County colleges and universities.

So did Jimmy Mancilla, a labor studies and political science double major who was struck by how many of his peers faced the same circumstances he did as a student worker. As the duo embarked on this hands-on program that spoke to their lived experiences, they took their research and developed a multimedia project that may inform and expand policy discussions to support future working college students.

Read more about Ritika Sarma and Jimmy Mancilla on UCLA Newsroom.

A major switch from biology to English and Chicano studies

Sometimes, a single question can change everything.

For Evelyn Giron, who is graduating from UCLA with degrees in both English and Chicano studies, with a minor in Central American studies, that question was: "Where is all the Central American literature?"

It was a moment of curiosity during office hours with UCLA's Marissa López, a professor with appointments in English and Chicano studies, that set Giron on a transformative academic journey. López responded by pulling books off her shelf, among them "I, Rigoberta Menchú" and "The Tattooed Soldier."

"I remember I went home and read both books back-to-back in two days because I was so excited," Giron said. "That one question changed the trajectory of my undergraduate experience."

Giron, who graduates in June, didn't always imagine herself immersed in literature and research. She originally started at UCLA as a biology major, partly because of how much she loved biology as a high school student. But, she enrolled in English 100: "Ways of Reading Race" to fulfill general education requirements, and it changed her academic trajectory.

Read more about Evelyn Giron on UCLA Newsroom.

He turned cheesemaking into award-winning research

When Guillermo Miranda's grandmother flew in from Mexico to visit his family several years back, she packed light on clothes and heavy on cheese. Wrapped in salmon-pink butcher paper, over 100 pounds of homemade queso de cincho filled his Abuelita's checked bag, resulting in a hefty overweight baggage fee.

Those cheese wheels and their roughly $300 ride to California became a running joke in Miranda's family, but the experience stuck with the UCLA history major. Miranda loved cheese and revered the generations of artisans and ranchers in his family who had upheld traditional dairy practices in their respective states of Guerrero and Michoacán, Mexico.

But why was cheese so important to his grandmother that she would dedicate an entire suitcase to it - and pay extra for it? What did those wheels of cheese represent beyond flavorful food? And what did it say about the dairy practices in Mexico that have survived over centuries?

The curiosity sparked by that visit became the foundation of Miranda's scholarly exploration into traditional Mexican cheesemaking and the role that food and informal economies play in preserving identity. These ideas would be tenets to his research focus as an undergraduate student at UCLA and in the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program, for which he was selected in his first year on campus.

Read more about Guillermo Miranda on UCLA Newsroom.

Composing her path

On the morning of Jan. 7, 2025, a fire had started in the Santa Monica mountains and Mia Ruhman, a music composition major at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music who will graduate this June, was recording tracks for her original pop opera, "Nannerl," at her family home in the Pacific Palisades. She preferred record in the quiet of home, and chance had it she was home that day rather than at UCLA.

The Santa Anna winds kicked the fire into a frenzy, and the flames began closing in. Ruhman took shifts with her father, spraying down her house and yard, occasionally retreating to her studio to continue recording. Her opera was set for June.

The resulting tragedy was one she couldn't have planned for. But she did have a plan - at least as it regarded her music.

Ultimately, Ruhman, who will be the undergraduate speaker at the school of music's commencement on June 13, completed the piano vocal score for her pop opera, and after graduation she will orchestrate the score for a small orchestra.

Read more about Mia Ruhman on the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music website.

'Power to the transfer'

UCLA's Center for Community College Partnerships, which strives to support transfer students holistically, has been changing lives since 2001 - and this year is no different.

Here, meet four of the of the center's peer advisors - graduating seniors who paid their own experience forward with thoughtful compassion and Bruin-to-the-bone verve.

What does it mean to you to be a CCCP peer advisor?

Shanti Fukasaku: Being a peer advisor allows me to encourage students from various backgrounds to know that they all belong in higher education; it's not unattainable.

Francisco Reyes: It's an incredibly fulfilling role that allows me to bridge two communities I deeply care about: the one I'm part of now at UCLA, and the community college community that truly shaped my path.

Keo Vutheikun: As a first-generation, nontraditional student, being a peer advisor means a great deal to me and my communities as I get to work with students to help build their navigational, linguistic and social capital.

Natalia Zeledon: Being a peer advisor allowed me to work with students to ensure they are supported, feel prepared to transfer and build community.

Read more about the CCCP peer advisors on UCLA Newsroom.

'I feel very lucky that I know what I care about'

The research project Victoria Gutierrez is completing as a UCLA senior was inspired by a set of photographs she saw years before she set foot on campus.

As a 14-year-old, Gutierrez came across pictures of Salvation Mountain, the massive, colorfully painted folk art installation in the midst of a barren desert landscape in the Salton Sea region of southern California.

"I remember thinking, 'What is this place? I have to go there,'" she said. The thought stayed with her over the next few years, and she pondered the small communities of people living there.

"It's very beautiful, but it's very desolate, plants don't really grow and it's known for having toxic dust that comes from the Salton Sea," Gutierrez said. "I just wondered, how do people live there, how do they cook, how do they do this? Those questions just lived in my brain for a long time."

Shortly after Gutierrez arrived at UCLA - the Rhode Island native transferred in 2023 from Saddleback College - the opportunity to explore those questions arose. Determined to pursue her own research project, she set up a meeting at the Undergraduate Research Center.

Read more about Victoria Gutierrez on the UCLA Humanities website.

How 3 former foster youth found community and a shared purpose

Justin Monk grew up unaware he had spent time in foster care as an infant. Soraya Leonard was in foster care in two different countries. Anna James' time in foster care ended with her grandmother assuming guardianship of her.

These three Bruins, all of whom will be graduating this June, had vastly different journeys as youth in foster care but share a similar pact to help peers who also have been system-impacted.

At UCLA, Monk, Leonard and James all served within UCLA's Bruin Guardian Scholars program, which provides resources, financial assistance, mentoring and social and other support for students. They also benefited from the program's resources and close-knit community.

"Even if you've been in foster care for a day as a child, or any kind of alternative guardianship where your parents lost custody of you, you qualify," Monk said.

Founded in 2009 by students advocating for their peers, BGS was created to support current and former foster youth navigating university life. The program provides a range of services, including emergency scholarships, priority enrollment, free textbooks, housing support and career development funding.

"It does make a huge difference," said Leonard. "Only 3% to 5% of college students nationally who have been in the system graduate with a four-year degree. That extra support is really necessary."

Read more about Monk, Leonard and James on UCLA Newsroom.

This global studies major learned how to be a doula

When she envisioned her senior research project, Leila Chiddick never figured she'd end up learning how to be a doula.

Doulas are non-medical professionals who are trained to support people through the perinatal process, and their work became an interest of Chiddick's for both academic and personal reasons.

As a global studies major, Chiddick learned how unaccommodating health care policies and guidelines can be for Black birthing people around the world. She also had heard family members' stories of harrowing experiences giving birth in hospitals.

So with the support of the UCLA/Keck Humanistic Inquiry Undergraduate Research Awards program, Chiddick set out to investigate how doulas support Black women and birthing people. Her goal: to create a community-guided framework that global health organizations like the World Health Organization could adopt as part of their guidelines.

Ugo Edu, a UCLA professor of African American studies and medical anthropologist, served as Chiddick's research adviser. Edu said Chiddick's work has the potential to make a real impact.

Read more about Leila Chiddick on the UCLA Humanities website.

A future astronaut takes flight

Brandon Lazard, who will graduate in June with a master's in space physics, is all about the love. Take, for example, his answer when asked about the polarizing Blue Origin space flight.

"I have a lot of complicated feelings about that venture, but the most important part for me is that one of the people aboard was Amanda Nguyen," he said. "She always wanted to go into space but when her rights were stripped away, she responded by becoming an advocate and activist who helped so many people. The fact that she finally achieved her goal is the highlight we should all be talking about."

In fact, Lazard shares both Nguyen's commitment to social justice as well as her dream - he, too, hopes to be an astronaut who makes a difference.

"I want to go to space to be an advocate that space is for everyone, not just the rich or people who look a certain way," Lazard said. "We need to change the Cold War-era 'space race' mode of thinking where countries vie for scientific progress in terms of power."

Originally from Texas, Lazard was always interested in physics, engineering and astronomy, but wasn't sure what direction he could actually take until receiving guidance from two unexpected mentors.

Read more about Brandon Lazard on UCLA Newsroom.

Finding confidence through research

Ananya Ravikumar moved from Bangalore, India, to Los Angeles, to start her journey at UCLA, she was stepping into the unknown. New place, new school, new independence - it was a lot to take in.

"I came in feeling very overwhelmed," she said. "Now, standing on the other side, I feel more secure and know that I can handle change a lot better than I would have before."

Ravikumar is graduating this June with a bachelor's degree in molecular, cell and developmental biology with a minor in biomedical research. She sees her time in college as a journey toward self-confidence - in the lab, classroom and life.

Academically, she found clarity early on. Her high school interest in biology evolved into a passion for understanding disease at the molecular level.

"I was interested in immunology because it connects to public health," she said. "But I've always wanted to know why things happen in the body. Studying molecular biology helped me understand cellular processes, the basis of disease and where therapies can make a difference."

Read more about Ananya Ravikumar on UCLA Newsroom.

'We wanted every student to feel like they belonged'

For Sohan Talluri, science has always been personal. The San Jose, California, native's academic path was shaped as much by what happened in doctors' offices as in classrooms and labs.

Talluri grew up managing severe food allergies, often visiting specialists and hoping for a cure. "I had hopes that whatever they would give me would sort of fix this problem," he said. "This was not the case."

While Talluri was diligent about managing his allergies and never experienced a severe reaction, his younger brother landed in the emergency room on several occasions. Seeing his brother suffer through those complications sparked Talluri's interest in understanding immunology.

"I was looking into labs, and I knew that food allergies and asthma had not only affected me, but my family," he said. "Getting into research about immunotherapy treatments felt like a natural next step."

He got that opportunity at UCLA, where he took on a major in microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics with a minor in biomedical research.

An introductory biology course with professor Yvonne Chen later led to an undergraduate researcher position in Chen's lab.

Read more about Sohan Talluri on UCLA Newsroom.

She turned a love of reading into care and community for patients

Amanda Penichet first learned the power of reading aloud from her grandmother, Mimi, who came to Los Angeles from Cuba on a visa to care for her and her older brother.

As Penichet's parents, both Cuban physicians who immigrated to Los Angeles in 1995, worked to rebuild their medical careers in a new country, Mimi nurtured the children, passing on life lessons, culture, art and Cuban cuisine.

"In my earliest memories of poetry and medicine, I'm sitting at my abuela's kitchen counter," said Penichet, who is graduating from UCLA with a degree in psychobiology. "She would read me Cuban poetry, especially the verses of José Martí, while slicing plantains and stirring black beans."

Those early experiences led to a lifelong love of reading for the trilingual Penichet, which sparked a volunteer passion project she would go on to develop at UCLA: the "Inspiration Station," a bilingual (English-Spanish) bedside reading program. During her time as a Bruin, Penichet launched the project for pediatric patients at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center.

"The hospital can be intimidating and isolating for patients of any age, but for some pediatric patients, language barriers make it even harder to feel comfortable or cared for in a place that already feels unfamiliar," she said.

Read more about Amanda Penichet on UCLA Newsroom.

'Our stories matter, our voices matter'

When Ryan Horio arrived at UCLA in fall 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic was still dominating the headlines. So, too, was the spate of anti-Asian discrimination and violence that followed in its wake, fueled by racist rhetoric about the pandemic's causes. Pew Research reported at the time that one-third of Asian Americans were living in fear of threats or physical attacks - a crisis that affected Horio at a profound level.

So that winter quarter, when he took an upper-division seminar analyzing the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II and drew a connection to his own grandmother's story as a survivor, it was a turning point. Learning for the first time about what she had endured - something his family had not discussed for decades - Horio also gained a new awareness about his own experiences.

"At first, I was frustrated. Why didn't I know about what had happened to my Obachan, my grandmother, and the struggles and injustices she went through?" said Horio, who interviewed her and other family members for a documentary he created as part of the class. "I was disappointed in myself, but then that disappointment turned into a resolve. I realized there is power in our lived experience, and we shouldn't hide that from the next generation because otherwise, they're bound to make the same mistakes we did."

Read more about Ryan Horio on UCLA Newsroom.

An English major's video games are opening 'new passages into the future'

A new video game developed by a UCLA senior explores the concepts of grief, diaspora, intergenerational conflict and unconditional love - all from the perspective of a young girl's emotional support animal.

The game, called Your Lola, was created by Nicolette Bond, who in June will graduate with a degree in English and a minor in digital humanities. From the perspective of a cat named Lola, players move through a family's apartment, collecting new "smells" such as a dusty Doris Day album, old clothes and adobo. Each new smell helps the player piece together a narrative.

As the story progresses, players hear conversations between a girl named Sofia and her mother, who are grieving the loss of Sofia's grandmother. Creating Your Lola took on special meaning for Bond because it allowed her to delve into her upbringing as a second-generation Filipino American.

"I had to write out these characters and understand the diaspora from my white side versus my Filipino side," Bond said. "Through listening to and interacting with phone calls and arguments, the player learns that Sofia's white grandmother expresses care differently from her Filipino mother - even though they both hold immense love for Sofia."

Read more about Nicolette Bond on the UCLA Humanities website.

A lifelong commitment to justice

For Grace Harris, a graduating senior majoring in international development studies (IDS) with a minor in geography, UCLA has been more than an academic home - it has been a launching pad for a lifelong commitment to justice.

Raised in Tampa, Florida, Harris first became politically engaged in high school, reacting to book bans, criminalized protests and an increasingly repressive political climate. "They're making a new category to criminalize protests because of Black Lives Matter - that's crazy," she recalled. This feeling of injustice carried her across the country to UCLA, where she found a university community that aligned with her values.

Drawn initially by the university's reputation and California's cultural scene, Harris quickly discovered that the IDS program offered something distinct: an interdisciplinary framework that explored not just international systems, but the roots of injustice. "Other programs just asked who has power," she said. "IDS seemed like (it was) asking why people have power and how we can challenge that."

Her passion for social analysis deepened through courses in feminist and cultural geography, which she first took because they were cross-listed with IDS. "I thought it brought a really interesting perspective on how we view people and their relation to the world," remarked Harris.

Read more about Grace Harris on the UCLA International Institute website.